South Korean lawmakers handed a invoice on Tuesday making it unlawful to breed, slaughter and promote dogs for human consumption. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
Dog meat farmers and eating places can have a three-year phaseout to adjust to the ban. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
Eating canine meat has fallen tremendously out of favor in recent years as pet possession grows in South Korea. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
The new regulation will impose fines of as much as three years in jail and $23,000 in fines for violators. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
Animal activists and well being officers have campaigned for years to shut down canine meat farms and ban the trade. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
Some 1 million dogs are nonetheless being raised in South Korea for human consumption, in response to rights campaigner HSI. FIle Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (UPI) — South Korea’s parliament handed a regulation on Tuesday that can ban the age-old apply of consuming canine meat by 2027, marking the tip of an trade that has fallen precipitously out of favor within the nation.
The new lawwhich handed with overwhelming bipartisan assist within the National Assembly, makes it unlawful to breed, slaughter and promote dogs for human consumption. It comes into impact in six months and can permit for a three-year phaseout interval to permit canine farmers and restaurant homeowners to transition to new businesses.
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The affected business homeowners will likely be required to submit a plan for shutting down their operations. The authorities has stated it’ll provide monetary compensation to assist them exit the trade.
Penalties for violating the regulation will embrace as much as three years in jail and fines of as much as roughly $23,000 for individuals who butcher dogs. Those who breed and promote dogs for meat will resist two years in jail and fines of $15,000.
As pet possession has skyrocketed in South Korea over the previous a number of years, public opinion has turned sharply towards consuming canine meat, a seasonal apply that lingers primarily amongst older generations.
A survey final month by Seoul-based animal rights group Aware discovered that greater than 93% of respondents stated that they had no intention of consuming canine meat sooner or later, whereas some 82% stated they supported a ban.
JungAh Chae, govt director of animal rights campaigner Humane Society International/Korea, known as the brand new regulation “historical past within the making.”
“I by no means thought I’d see in my lifetime a ban on the merciless canine meat trade in South Korea,” Chae stated in an emailed assertion. “We reached a tipping level the place most Korean residents reject consuming dogs and wish to see this struggling consigned to the historical past books, and in the present day our policymakers have acted decisively to make {that a} actuality.”
Falling demand, unfavourable public opinion and activist strain have led to the shuttering of most of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses and markets in recent years. HSI has labored to shut 18 farms in South Korea since 2015 however estimates that roughly 1 million dogs are nonetheless being bred for human consumption, with many farms working illegally.
South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs counted practically 1,700 canine meat eating places and 1,150 canine farms in 2022.
Efforts to close down the canine meat trade picked up momentum las 12 months as each main political events launched payments and high-profile political figures together with first girl Kim Keon Hee spoke out in assist of a ban.
The topic has lengthy been a nationwide embarrassment for a lot of in South Korea, coming beneath the highlight throughout main worldwide occasions such because the Olympics.
“While my coronary heart breaks for all of the hundreds of thousands of dogs for whom this variation has come too late, I’m overjoyed that South Korea can now shut this depressing chapter in our historical past and embrace a dog-friendly future,” HSI’s Chae stated.
